Light the North

24th November 2020

In 2021, Light the North will shine a light across the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland with over 45 lighthouses designed and created by some of the most talented artists across the UK and beyond continuing the region’s cultural revolution. https://www.lightthenorth.co.uk/

“CLAN has been a lifeline for people affected by cancer by giving telephone support, counselling sessions and introducing online services since the outbreak. CLAN continues to be a shining light of hope, reassurance and support for people affected by cancer.”

“We want to thank everyone for their support of the lighthouse trail, and we can’t wait to shine a light on the north-east and Northern Isles with our sculptures next year!”

The Little Lights Education Programme

Working with local schools

The Little Lights Education programme links to the Curriculum for Excellence with all participating schools being provided with a creative learning resource pack for teachers. The pack contains a programme of study designed to complement teaching of numerous subjects including; the history and development of lighthouses; a link to the sea e.g renewables and wider energy sector, maritime; cell biology and personal resilience; physical health and emotional wellbeing.

The trail

“The Education Programme will culminate in a trail of 0.8 meter tall lighthouses, designed and decorated by schools, being displayed at indoor locations throughout the city. With the support of the business community, the Little Lights Education Programme will enable 50 schools to immerse themselves in learning about the symbol of our city across a variety of subjects.” https://www.lightthenorth.co.uk/education-programme/

In order to take part in this exciting Little Lights Education Programme, we at Aberdeen Grammar have been fortunate enough to have been chosen and partnered with Mearns & Gill, “the longest-standing creative marketing agency in Scotland”. Without their sponsorship and support this would not have been possible. https://www.mearns-gill.com/

“Cancer has sadly touched the lives of both students and teachers in our school and we feel this is a poignant opportunity to raise awareness of the effects that cancer can have on families and communities, particularly in the North East. The Art Department along with the Guidance Department would like to help support this good cause by creating a little lighthouse which highlights/underpins the importance of strong emotional support during difficult times. To promote engagement and contributions on a broader scale, we would additionally like students in our S2 classes, to create mini individual lighthouses to exhibit and promote positive emotional well-being.” Aberdeen Grammar School Art Department

Our School Proposal

Our CLAN little lighthouse has been a collaboration from all of the S2 Art & Design pupils; who have been exploring found objects from our local coastline. Through careful observation, they have created and selected their strongest individual pieces, that in combination, will adorn our little lighthouse along with messages of hope.

In addition to decorating our very own little lighthouse (provided by CLAN) S2 students have created individual tiny lighthouses inspired by different landscape artists, featuring different landscapes from our local area. They have aimed to capture their emotions through their use of colour and mark making. Some tiny lighthouses portray solace and hope, whilst some also reflect life’s turbulent times.

With seashore inspired drawings, local Scottish landscape inspired painting sculptures and messages of hope, all of our S2 students are creating works that support the importance of this educational programme, particularly in building personal resilience; physical health and emotional well-being.

Individual drawings of ‘seashore finds’ by our S2 students, ready to apply to our CLAN Little Lighthouse.
Fantastic skill, refined detail and much care have gone into each drawing for the Little Lighthouse.

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